Editor's Note #23: Tweepidemiology#2..

Thought it was time to update the "Tweepidemiology" graph I first posted back in September of 2014.

The Ebola virus disease epidemic of 2014 certainly drive the biggest of my Tweepidemics.

Followers of my @MackayIM Twitter account (and this blog which gets
promoted through it) since I started tweeting.
This shows the cumulative rise, and pause, of followers and the relationship between the rate of that rise and some active periods of infectious disease outbreaks..
Click on the graph to enlarge

This will be something I check back in on from time to time. Interesting stuff. 

As above but zoomed in to show the dip in followers of the @MackayIM Twitter account.
Click on the graph to enlarge.

Something else this little analysis showed me was still interesting, but very disappointing. That thing was one of the biggest losses of followers and slowest periods of follower gains that my Twitter account has had in its 2 years. 

This dip happened immediately after I changed the background on my avatar to reflect my support for the US Supreme Court's legalisation of same sex marriage. I kept that background for a week. I haven't been able to find anything else to attribute to the dip - I haven't been any more annoying or rude than I usually am! I don't blog to gain followers per se but followers are very helpful because they help spread sometimes useful information further than it might otherwise reach. Also, because you're mostly a likable bunch of course! In the scheme of things it was a blip - and there is always a turnover of newcomers and "newleavers" and the latter generally increases in proportion to a decrease in my level of engagement. It just strikes me as sad that people feel so much dislike or annoyance that they need to respond by leaving the table in disgust or annoyance like a child who doesn't get what they want.

Data. So many things to learn from them.